You might wonder how it was that I could envision Joshua sitting on a wind-swept sand dune grappling with his fears?

A simple word in the Scripture, the English Standard Version of the Bible.

“Moses My servant is dead.  Now therefore arise…” Joshua 1:2 (emphasis mine).

It is easy enough to miss.  To gloss over and pass by its significance.  We can rush to what offers balm to our soul, words like, “Be strong and courageous”. You know the ones that can give us a temporary shot in the arm to boost our morale.  But have you ever stopped long enough to consider just how Joshua was able to find the strength and courage he needed to go somewhere that held so much unknown and uncertainty?

Or how that father found the strength and courage to walk past his fellow neighbors and local synagogue leaders and fall at Jesus’ feet begging for His divine intervention in his daughter’s life?  A man heralded as a ruler of his local town on bended knee pleading for help from Someone Who was virtually a stranger.

Have you stopped to ponder the profound implications behind the movement they both had to make in order to fulfill their destinies that are written in a book that has survived longer than most written documents?  So many classic stories contain messages of supernatural strength and compelling courage that no mere mortal could produce, but is that the case here?  I am not so sure that it is.  It seems to me that God doesn’t like pedestals in our world, for when we use them, we often begin worshiping something that was never meant to be worshiped.

Rather than moving quickly past Joshua and Jairus’ stories, let us dig in just a little bit more and look at the word, arise.

“To get up from a lying, sitting or kneeling position, rise; to awaken, wake up; to move upward, mount, ascend; to come into being, action or notice, originate, appear, spring up; to result or proceed, spring or issue.”  www.dictionary.com/arise

Whether Joshua was sitting or kneeling, his heart was in a position lower than God wanted it to be.  God’s first instruction to him, to help him where he was, was to implore him to move from the position he was in.  And that makes sense.

Many times in life, whether it is physical, emotional or spiritual, we become stuck.  What is only a season feels like an eternity.  We may know that we are moving through a tunnel, but lose sight of that knowledge when we begin to wonder whether the light at the end will ever appear. Grief, in particular, is a long winding road where darkness descends and light battles fiercely to penetrate.  A day can be glorious and filled with abundant sunshine of radiating love, and the soul burdened by such loss can barely feel the warmth of those rays.

Joshua’s love and trust for Moses and God are mapped out before us in the books that exist before the book of Joshua.  No matter how strong he was, nor how courageous he had been, Joshua’s heart had likely sunk to new depths of pain that only the death of a loved one can bring.

It is interesting to me the paradox that often comes with faith. We want to be comfortable, able to see clearly the path before us as well as the end result before we become willing to move from where we are, but true faith doesn’t allow it.  So many times, some foreword movement, that emphasizes trust, is required before such clarity is gained.  And that is exactly how God began His words to Joshua.

He told him that He understood the crux of his paralysis:  Moses was dead.  And then, in what seems a bit surprising, He told Joshua to get up.  Staying there, motionless, in that pain would not move him towards the place God had prepared for him.  Remaining in that desert would not bring Moses back, nor would Moses have wanted him to continue in the same sandy wasteland that they had been sojourning through for so long.

If we go one step further and look at their journey in the desert, we will find that even in the midst of their sin and disobedience, God continually called on them to move. To arise from those moments and places of transgression and venture forward, even when they were really going nowhere because of their persistent state of sin.  Maybe that was Joshua’s training ground for understanding that it was crucial for him to move when God asked him to move.

And the father, what can we draw from his story?  We know he had a home.  We know he had wealth, helpers and the concern of many.  Because we are told that he was a ruler, we can presume that he lived in a manner of comfort that afforded pleasures which could have soothed his aching soul. We are not told that he lived at the harbor. Instead, we are told that he ventured there and met Jesus as He got off the boat.

By implication, can we see that his efforts began when he arose from his situation and moved towards another potential?  Do you see that if he sat there and stayed where he was, his daughter wouldn’t have lived?  Can you visualize him leaving his comfortable chair, putting on his shoes and hurrying out the door in the desperate belief that any hope of life for her was tied to him taking one step after another in the only direction he could find?  Can you see the pain that he had to endure in leaving the side of his loved one in what was potentially the last moments of her life?  The risk of missing out on his last remaining chance of being together with her. Steps that grew heavier the further he went.

Further, when the news of her death spread through the crowd and reached him, can you comprehend how difficult it must have been not to crumple to the ground and give up his last remaining hope?  Instead, he was strengthened and given courage through five faith-testing words:

“Do not fear.  Only believe.”  Mark 5:36

If believing is the antidote to fear, then arising from our situations is the needle that delivers the antidote.  It is the movement that breaks the tension and delivers the strength and courage to continue on.

It starts when we come to understand that the wisdom we need to find the right direction out of where we are stuck will come when we put God above our fears.

“‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'”  Job 28:28

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the ways of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil…” Proverb 2:6-12

“Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn from evil.  It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7-8

Understand that when we choose to cling to our fears over God Who is continually nudging us to move out and away from them, we are fearing them more than Him. When we believe that we are stuck, that no light will shine again upon us, we are selling Him short. We embrace the evil message that He is not able nor willing when we choose to believe fear’s power over us rather than His. When we demand that our paths be well lit and life make full sense to us before we will trust Him enough to take that needed step, we are headed down the wrong path already and away from that which has the most potential to heal us. True faith doesn’t make such demands.

Instead, faith puts God in the right position above all else and trusts that when He asks us to “arise”, we should do so no matter how hopeless or uncertain our situation look…

“Taking her by the hand, He said to her, ‘Talitha cumi, which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.'”  Mark 5:36 (emphasis mine).

“Do not be afraid, only believe.” Mark 5:36

A desert.  A hot wind blowing.  Gripped with grief, sorrow and an aching love, a man sits on the edge of a wind swept dune looking out towards a land rich with promises. His heart throbbing with the pain of loss and the uncertainty of what lies ahead.

Behind him is a sea of tents.  A mass of people; men, women and children.  They followed a man out of the only land they had ever known in hopes of finding a better life for them and their children.  That man was now gone, passed on to the heavenly realm, before they were able to enter the land beyond the Jordan.

Looking back on those tents, this man wondered just how he could lead them.  He had been Moses’ assistant for some time, and while he had faith, leaving the desert they had known since he was a young child seemed frightening.  Commanding, guiding and moving all those lives to a land, beautiful and unknown, would be no easy task.

As the wind blew across his face, doubt began to creep in.  How could he finish the task being that his great mentor could not?

A father and wealthy ruler, desperately moving through a crowd, searching. A young daughter writhing in pain and sickness in the upper chambers of their home. The house full of those who, by the day’s standard, were best suited for caring for her.  A clock ticking for not one had been able to stop the advancing deterioration of her body.

The crowd was large and wide as they waited at the harbor for a boat carrying someone they had heard of.  The excitement of His arrival pulsated through those huddled near, though they did not fully understand just who He was or what He was capable of.  A gentle, salty breeze blew through air.  The noise of the crowd and busyness of the store fronts that aligned the harbor filled the space with constant hum.  The master of the ship, the healer of the sick, stepped out onto the shore as the crowd gathered around Him.

There, the ruler, the young girl’s father, pushed himself through to front and fell on his knees, humbly pleading for his daughter’s life.  The father filled with fear at the prospect of loosing his beloved implored:

“My little daughter is at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”  Mark 5:23

These moments in Joshua and Jairus’ lives give us something to ponder. A glimpse at how to find strength when we feel at our weakest, overwhelmed by fear.

The book of Joshua starts with God telling Joshua to “arise”, there was still a job for him to do despite the grief that he felt.  The time had come to move forward, and yet, God knew this new transition into Moses’ leadership role would bring about new and unsettling fears in Joshua. You see, Joshua had been filled with strength and courage long before this moment. He had displayed it since he was young. In and through Moses’ mentoring, Joshua had found and learned what it meant to face fear.

But sitting on that sand dune, alone, at the helm of the caravan filled with hearts aching and longing for a permanent home, Joshua likely felt more fear than he had ever known. There was no mortal man above him to take the fall if a wrong decision was made. No one to make the final decisions anymore. The responsibility rested on his shoulders, alone, when Moses laid hands on him before he passed on. There was no other hand to guide the staff and to discipline the people, and oh, how he had watched them love to complain. Those matters now fell solely upon him.

God, being near him, sensed the dread that had fallen upon him.  He saw the fear beginning to spiral out of control within Joshua’s grief-stricken heart as he looked over the river Jordan to the land Moses had been leading them towards.  Images in his mind of the large masses of people, animals and supplies having to fight to cross a river to head into a land where enemies would be waiting. Battles looming at his charge. Lives impacted and changed forever.

And driven across the warm, sand covered plains, these words came to him:

“Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  I will not leave you or forsake you.  Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”  Joshua 1:5-6

While we can think of strong as being physical capable of exerting force, it is also very much applicable to what is going on in your mind.  It is to be “mentally powerful or vigorous; especially able, competent, or powerful in a specific field; of great moral power, firmness or courage.”  www.dictionary.com/strength. It can involve being powerful in influence and authority as well as having the resources necessary to affect that power. Id. Yes, it can result in being aggressive and willful, but it also involves being clear, firm, solid, stable, thriving, and well-supplied. Id. Most who are strong develop the ability to resist attack as well as the ability to withstand strain, force or the wearing that occurs from the pressures of everyday life.

In some cases, to be strong may have little to do with physical fortitude and everything to do with what you believe in your mind.

As Jairus and Jesus made their way towards his home, you must understand that he was feeling an incredible amount of pressure to get there as quickly as possible.  His very words to Jesus conveyed just how sick his little girl was.  You can almost feel the dread rise as they slowly move through the crowd, only to have Jesus stop to address a woman, who was also desperate for healing.  The words that must have been running through that father’s head, “We don’t have time for this!  Please, please press on. My daughter is dying, and this woman is at least able to stand, walk and talk.  We must go. Come on!  Come on!  We’ve got to go!”

And if he thought he was filled with fear and dread at that moment, then came the startling news in the crowd.  The words rising above the rest, “Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?”  Can you imagine what overcame him in his mind? The fear no longer a little ways away, but instead, front and center: your daughter is dead and there is nothing you can do about it.  Oh, the crippling pain.  The breaking of a heart…

Yet these words were spoken to him by our ever loving God:

“Do not fear, only believe.”  Mark 5:36

I am not a fan of the idea that we can “will” life to happen by positive thoughts and considering only that which makes us happy.  The idea that we can mentally “will” the steps of our lives where we want it to go isn’t supported in God’s word.  Repeatedly we are told that it is God who orders our steps and that life contains not only good but hardship, pain and suffering.

“Will” becomes a part of the picture through the choices we make in this life as each opportunity for choice arrives.  We can’t “will” those opportunities, but as they present themselves, we will have a choice to make in regards to them. Consequently, understand that Moses never entered the promised land. Why? Because, near the end of his life, he disobeyed God. He made a wrong choice, even though he wanted to enter the promised land. We will all have moments that we can’t will or pray or get ourselves out of. Had that been the answer, Jairus would never have needed Jesus. His daughter would have already been better.

Yet, those words, “do not fear, only believe,” are obviously meant to teach us something about the moments we cannot control.  The times when we are faced with great uncertainty.  The intersections where we can pay the toll and board the fear train that allows us to crumble to the ground.

But look again, it was in that moment–the very moment the fear was the biggest and almost crushing–that Jairus, though not understanding how it could be different than what he was just told, was instructed to turn away from fear.  The antidote Jesus handed to him to fight his fear was  “Only believe.”  

Strength arises when we are willing to believe that we are not alone in our struggles. God told Joshua, “Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you.”  Jesus reminded Jairus that He had agreed to go with him to make his daughter well.

It’s not the size of your enemies that matters.  It is not the vastness of the open land ahead of you; the unknown of what lies unseen.  It is not the crowd of naysayers pressing against you.  It is not the swell of tents, the obstruction of buildings, nor the multitude of highways laying within your vision that prevents you from moving forward.

It is fear.

It is when we let fear begin to rise and build within. When it goes from hardly being a blip on our radar to overwhelming because of the circumstances before us.  It saps our strength as it grows.  It consumes our peace and confidence so that it might disarm and paralyze us right where we are.

But remember, the best form of strength comes in believing from within.  And where did Joshua find the strength to arise and prepare the people to embark on moving forward? By trusting and believing his journey was not one traversed alone bearing the weight of all that was before and behind him. No, he came to believe and trust that God was good to His word and would be with him each step that he took.

And Jairus?  He saw the compassion of our Savior and found the internal strength to believe there was a reason for him to continue on to his household.  He didn’t call off the journey as the others had asked.  He didn’t relieve Jesus from going.  He followed Him, choosing to believe that fear–the very real fear that he felt–wasn’t in control.

Neither of their situations were easy. Fear works best when our situations are hard. It will fight to control when you least want it to. It doesn’t come when you are strong; it preys on you when you feel weak. Sitting on a hillside grieving the loss of a loved one and feeling uncertain about the future. It will lurk when you have done all you can do and have no further control to stop loss from happening.

You won’t find the antidote in the weight room of a gym or in a self-help book of library; you may learn or gain tidbits towards strength, but they will only be components.  Why? Because much of the strength that will propel you forward in life lies in your mind.

To strengthen your mind and your thoughts comes from believing. The belief that with God, all things are possible. The thought processes of your mind that believe you are more than able, and where you are not, He is.  It is the understanding that what lies within you is more powerful in changing your world and opening up doors to new opportunities than any obstacle set in your path. Your success lies not in “willing” things to happen, but in moving forward with the belief that, with hard work and right living, you will reach your goals and destination.

Strength to overcome fear arises through believing…

“Taking her by the hand He said to her, ‘Talitha cumi,’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’  And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.”  Mark 5:41-42